The Best Times to Shop at Costco in Minnesota to Avoid Crowds

I'll tell you a secret: I was not a Costco fan until about 2 or 3 years ago. I know! My husband has shopped at Costco his whole life and he eventually got me to agree to set foot in one for the first time.

I was hooked.

There are all sorts of good deals you can find at Costco. I was just talking to some friends about some of our trips involving buying things you probably don't need, but it's such a good deal! I know, an invigorating conversation.

However, everyone else seems to know how great Costco is because it's always busy.

ALSO READ: What the Color Coded Price Tags Mean at TJMaxx

So if you're someone who wants to get your shopping in but with as few people as possible, I've got your back.

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Costcos in Minnesota

We've got 14 Costco locations across Minnesota. Not surprisingly most of them are in the Twin Cities.

We always make the mistake of shopping at Costco on the weekend. Bad idea. Unless you really need something or you don't mind lots of people, weekends are the absolute worst time to go.

The Best Times to Shop at Costco

So if you want to deal with as few people as possible, when should you shop?

One of the tips that I found from Eating Well is to go to Costco when it's raining. I think snowing can apply here, too. Less people are interested in going out when the weather is crummy so if you're ok venturing out, do it.

I also found that both Eating Well and Simply Recipes agree that shopping midweek is the way to go. Eating Well says Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are great days to shop. Simply Recipes specifically calls out Tuesdays and Thursdays being the perfect days for less people.

As for what time you should go, Eating Well says going around when they open or shortly before they close are typically good times. Also, some locations are good to shop at during dinner time.

Another interesting tip for a good time to shop at Costco that I got from a Reddit comment on the Costco Reddit page was to shop during Vikings games. This is totally true! We went on a Sunday once during a Vikings game and it wasn't nearly as busy as a usual Sunday.